Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

If their next announcement is Pikmin 3 after years of being told that 4 is almost completed, that would be disappointing.

I agree but then there will be people that say “a lot of people haven’t played pikmin 3 or no one wanted to buy a Wii u so it will be a brand new game for them” and okay then.

Ha ha! I'm hoping we get BOTW2 in the next 12 months. What I mean by BOTW3 is more a 3rd Zelda game using the same game engine etc, it wouldn't have to be a third chapter of BOTW if that makes sense.

@1UP_MARIO @Octane I think you both make good points about Pikmin, I didn't have a Wii U, so would like to play Pikmin 3, but totally get why anyone who has would be annoyed. Assuming Pikmin 3 is out before Christmas, what do you think is the smallest gap to Pikmin 4 Nintendo could get away with?

Pikmin 4 is still a lot more likely to happen than a new DK game. The Metroid Prime 4 restart last year pretty much destroyed any chance of a new DK game.

DK will probably be abandoned for around a decade or so, just like Rayman.

@Grumblevolcano How well did Tropical Freeze do? I got the impression it was this critical acclaimed game that no one actually bought. And I say that because I keep hearing how it’s “underrated” so I assume it wasn’t a big seller. If that’s true then I can understand why there wouldn’t be any more games in the series.

@FragRed 1.98 million on Wii U and 2.25 million on Switch.

@1UP_MARIO @MarioBrickLayer Yeah, you can't play every game. So many games are not available on any given system. You can't have everything. You always have the option to buy the original hardware to play that game on. But on the other hand if they release Pikmin 3 again, it will be treated like a new game. A €60 release, meaning there's no incentive to double dip for me personally, and they won't release Pikmin 4 in the same week either. I'm personally not a fan of this approach. It feels like waiting for all the Wii U games to be ported over to get the new stuff. But hopefully I'm wrong and they announce 4 soon.

That being said, I don't understand why the Wii U library wasn't ported years ago and put on the eShop for €20-30 a game. It can't be that difficult, right? Get a small team together focused on porting older games. But I don't run a game company.

@FragRed According to vgchartz it's done ok, c.2.45 million sales. The Wii U version did about 2 million. But I'd be advising them to move away from the DKC format for a bit and do something different with the IP. DKCTF is a very good game, but I wouldn't call it the sorry of game that was going to expand the appeal of DK. The people who think most highly of it tend to be those like JaxonH who really dig the way it all comes together doing speed runs. For the more casual gamer it's just a fairly old skool style 2D tricky platformer. It looks good (but without much to make it stand out) and it sounds good, but the gameplay... IDK, to me it isn't very fun to play. It's too easy to be clumsy controlling DK. When I play DKCTF I want there to me more rope swinging stuff, more of the vehicular stuff, just generally more fun stuff and maybe a few less easy ways to lose lives. I think it's great what it offers to hardcore platformers, but it could do with being a bit more casual friendly. Funky mode obviously tries to address this I guess, but I've not tried Funky as I only have the Wii U version.

@Octane Well it's obvious they're using ports to fill in release gaps but the lack of using them to fill in gaps recently suggests that there are bigger gaps to fill. So like what's worse, a 3 month drought in July - October 2018 and a 3 month drought in March 2019 to June 2019 or a 8 month drought in July 2020 - March 2021 for example? Of course it's the latter.

Well, it does take some work, especially if you're trying to do it well, @Octane .... & since some complain about the number of Wii U ports as it is, it's better to spread them out, with new games in between I dunno if they do intend to bring Pikmin 3 before 4, though, particularly.

@MarioBrickLayer Quietly optimistic is how I'd put my stance towards BotW 2. Obviously I want it in my hands ASAP but I can't get too hopeful about rumours and supposed leaks.

2.45 million on Switch isn't all that good. That's just barely inside the Top 20 Switch games, and it's probably going to fall out in about a year or two. Plus it only sold a quarter million more than the Wii U version despite the Switch selling 4 times as much. There's clearly not much demand for DK, especially in its current state. I think DK, much like 2D Mario, has gotten stale and people are getting tired of it, and DK is going to need to do something new and different to rekindle interest in the series. Maybe another 3D game could do it, but unless that's in development by another company it's probably not happening anytime soon. Either way, it's probably better that they do try this with a 3D game, that way they can market it as a second branch of the series, much like 3D Mario, 3D Zelda, and Metroid Prime are for their respective series. Then if people hate it, it'll just be a failed experiment that doesn't affect the main series, and if it's successful, they could continue making more of them and potentially even adopt its new mechanics into the 2D games.

As for what I'd do to revitalize DK, I'd go for a 3D game that's a hybrid platformer/beat em up. Think something like God of War, Knack, or the Werehog from Sonic Unleashed. DK is a brawler, why not do more with that in the gameplay? It'd certainly make DK more interesting as opposed to being one of 17 other platformers Nintendo has.

Do those sales numbers exclude digital sales? 2.5m physical sales might be pretty good if it's done a well on the eshop.

I got the number from Wikipedia which sources the quarterly meetings. Tropical Freeze Switch hasn't appeared on a quarterly meeting since April 2019 so it'll be more than the 2.25 million stated but clearly not much more otherwise it would've appeared on more recent quarterly meetings.

@Grumblevolcano To me it's the same. There's only like one or two Nintendo games I buy every year, so whether they "fill the gaps" with a ton of ports doesn't make a difference for me. I'd buy more games if they had more Mario/Zelda calibre games. I'm still holding out for a new big IP. Splatoon was the last one I guess, but I wouldn't mind if it was more single player focused.

@BruceCM Sure, but way less than making a new game. And if it does take a lot of work, I'd rather have them develop new games instead. Personally speaking at least.

@Bolt_Strike GOW (original trilogy), Knack and Sonic Unleashed are all pretty mediocre games IMO, and that kind of gameplay is quite dated and boring. Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers, so if they do another DK game, I rather have another solid platformer over a failed beat-em-up experiment.

So i decided to have a go at a prediction for the alleged Direct on the 20th. I looked into the Amazon leak and tried to place those games. This is not my wishes (Konami would release MGS5 then) but what i think will be revealed:

NMH3 gameplay and release november or december
Mario 3D collection November
Pikmin 3 August
Super Mario 3D World September
Uannonced Nintendo game (Kirby, Zelda remake, ???) October
E shop game (shadow drop)
Doom Eternal date
World War Z official reveal and date
Kingdom Hearts melody game reminder
WB game (Lego star wars)
Square Enix game (Tomb raider collection)
Konami game (skelattack)
Capcom Game (DMC4)
Take two game (2k21)
Bethesda game (Fallout 76)
Ubisoft game (Just Dance)
Indie 1
Indie 2

One last thing.. (BOTW2 or Metroid???)

What do you guys and girls think we will see?

I think a DK game in the 3D world layout would be perfect. You could play diddy, dixxy, cranky and DK all at the same time. It keeps all the good gameplay of the Mario 3D world but makes it a bit fresh.

@sixrings Hopefully the Kingdom Hearts Melody game does well so we can have Kingdom Hearts on switch!
I believe that they were planning for a Super Mario 3D World DLC with maybe Donkey Kong or Wario and Waluigi DLC. That would be awesome!!!!